The Posse by Tawdra Kandle Read Free Book Online Page B

and forth onto the beach. Why don’t you go out
with them?”
    Jude maneuvered Matt and
Sandra to a two-person table away from all the noise of the kitchen
and went in search of drinks for them. As she bent to grab a beer
for Matt, she felt a hand at her waist and knew it was Logan.
    “You couldn’t have set that
up better if you’d tried,” he murmured into her ear. Jude shivered
and caught her breath. She pulled herself together enough to turn
and smile.
    “Funny how things work out
sometimes, isn’t it?”
    “If I didn’t know better,
I’d think you messed with her car and made sure Matt was coming
from the same direction.” He narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t,
right?”
    Jude rolled her eyes.
“Right. God, Logan, what do you think of me?”
    He grinned down at her.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
    Before she could answer,
Mark slid a basket of onion rings onto the counter in front of
her.
    “Can you take these over to
Cooper and Eric? I promised them a hot batch.”
    “Sure.” Jude spied the guys
at a table in the corner, tipping back bottles. Sparring Logan one
last glance, she picked up the food.
    “Onion rings to the dudes
who clearly aren’t looking to get lucky tonight.” She dropped the
basket between them.
    “Hey, don’t make
assumptions. I’m going to take a few of these over to Janet. If she
eats them, too, she won’t be able to tell the difference.” He
winked at Jude and sauntered over to the bar where his wife was
slicing hamburger buns.
    Jude took his empty chair
and pushed the basket closer to Cooper. “What about you, stud?
Don’t you want to keep your options open for the evening?”
    He quirked a grin at her.
“No options tonight. Lex is with me.” He jerked a thumb in the
direction of the deck. “She’s outside riding herd on the rugrats.
Pretending to be annoyed, but she secretly loves it.”
    Jude glanced out the doors.
Alexis was leaning against the deck railing, her eyes trained on
the beach below, where Mark’s kids were playing.  Her red hair
was twisted into a braid that trailed down her back.
    “How’s she doing? Ready to
start high school?”
    Cooper winced. “Don’t remind
me. I tried to talk Jolie into sending to her to an all-girl
Catholic school.”
    Jude laughed. Cooper and his
first ex-wife were one of those rare couples whose divorce was far
friendlier than their marriage had ever been.  Alexis was a
happy and well-adjusted girl because her parents worked together to
raise her.
    “Good luck with that. You
might as well face it, Coop. You’re going to be beating the boys
off with a stick. I don’t want to scare you, but when Lex was
working for me this summer, there were plenty of them looking at
her. Don’t worry, I kept my eye on her—and them.”
    Cooper leaned back in his
chair, closing his eyes. “I’m choosing to live in a blissful state
of denial. She’s still my little girl.”
    Jude laid her hand on his
arm. “You keep telling yourself that. Don’t worry. She’s a good
girl. I loved having her around here. Meggie did, too. She says Lex
is the closest thing she has to a little sister.”
    “I’m glad. I really did
appreciate you letting her work for you. It was a good way to get
her feet wet, and I knew you were looking out for her.” Cooper
covered Jude’s hand with his free one and held it for just a second
longer than necessary.
    Jude smiled to cover her
sudden discomfort and stood up. “If I don’t get back to cooking, my
brother is going to kill me. I think he’s afraid if he gets behind
the bar too long, he’ll end up never leaving. It’s a family
thing.”
    “Jude.” She turned back,
unease rising at the intimate tone of his voice. “This was really
nice. Thanks for having all of us. Good to be together again for a
happy reason.”
    There was a look in Cooper’s
eyes that Jude hadn’t seen in a long time, and it certainly had
never been directed her way.  Not quite sure what to do, she
nodded and got back to